The Road Not Taken
The Road Not Taken is the fourteenth episode and season finale of the second season of ''The Orville''. The crew of [[USS Orville|USS Orville]] must contend with the disastrous fallout from Kelly Grayson's decision. The title is believed to refer to Robert Frost's poem by the same name, which explores personal choice and consequences through a metaphorical narrative of a traveler who took "the road less traveled by, and that made all the difference."Frost, Robert. Mountain Interval. Henry Holt. 1916. The Road Not Taken was written by David A. Goodman and directed by Gary Rake. Music was composed by Joel McNeely. Actress Halston Sage makes a surprise return as a rebel leader. The episode did not feature the standard opening credits and theme music by Bruce Broughton as they were removed for time constraints@TomCostantino. "Thank you @spool_the !!! https://thespool.net/tv/2019/04/the-orville-recap-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow/ … and don’t worry about the main title, we just temporarily needed extra time for the show. ⏱��⏰⏲@SethMacFarlane @TheOrville #TheOrville". Twitter. April 18, 2019.. Plot summary Act 1 The episode opens with two figures wearing masks and thick jackets trudging through a snowy landscape to the Planetary Union listening post on Sarin IV. The two figures enter the abandoned post. One helps himself to a pair of thick boots while the other secures a synthesizer. The two men flee as a Kaylon Sphere lands and disgorges three Kaylon, whose heads detach and pursue the two figures. The two men flee back to their shuttle, ECV-342-1, dodging laser blasts. One of the men stumbles but the other helps him back up. Together, the two escape aboard their shuttle and lead the Kaylon heads through the skies of Sarin IV. The two men remove their masks, revealing themselves as Commander Ed Mercer and Lieutenant Gordon Malloy. Malloy says that he thought the planet was safe but Mercer replies that there is nowhere safe anymore. Their shuttle flees into space but is pursued by a Kaylon Sphere hiding in the asteroid field. To buy time to reset the quantum drive, Malloy and Mercer flee into an ice moon. Flying the shuttle, Malloy dodges falling debris and navigates through the icicles and tunnels. Mercer spots a cavern offport and tells Malloy to take the shuttle about. Under Mercer's direction, Malloy turns the shuttle around and opens fire on some icicles, crushing the Kaylon Sphere. This allows them to flee into quantum space. While traveling through quantum space, Malloy remarks that it is getting harder to find a system free of the Kaylon. Mercer responds that the Kaylon have wiped out half the known galaxy. Mercer tells Malloy to set a course for Calivon, whom Malloy regards as being as dangerous as the Kaylon. Malloy rationalizes that the Kaylon have not taken on the Calivon yet. He says that they can hide on the edge of their system. The two men inspect the synthesizer since they haven't had a decent meal for a long time. Malloy summons a Twinkie, which annoys Mercer at first. While sharing the Twinkie, the shuttle is pulled out of quantum abruptly. They find that their ship’s computers have been hacked. The shuttle is dragged aboard a large scavenger vessel. Act 2 The two men get their plasma guns and prepare for a last stand. However, the shuttle door opens to reveal several humans including Commander Kelly Grayson, Dr Claire Finn, Lieutenant John LaMarr, and Lieutenant Talla Keyali. Grayson greets Kelly, who remembers her as a former girlfriend who broke off their relationship after their first date seven years ago. She tells him that is why she is here now. Later in the conference room, Grayson warns Mercer that what she is about to tell him will blow his mind. Mercer is still bitter about their broken relationship. Grayson asks Mercer and LaMarr if they know the [[USS Orville|USS Orville]]. LaMarr remembers the ship as the vessel which the Kaylon used to invade Earth nine months ago. Grayson tells Mercer that he was supposed to be the captain and that she was supposed to be his first officer. He adds that everyone here was supposed to be part of his crew. Grayson confirms that she is aware of events from an alternate timeline. She explains that seven years ago she was accidentally sent forward in time to what would have been six months ago. Grayson says she was aboard the Orville and met Mercer and the other crew. She explains that before she went back to her own timeline Dr Finn gave her a memory wipe that didn't work. As a result, she did something that changed history. She explains to Mercer that she said no to a second date. In the alternate timeline, she and Mercer got married. She had an affair and got divorced. Grayson later reconciled with her former husband and served as his first officer, helping him to defeat the Kaylon. Mercer realizes that in the alternate timeline he played an important role in defeating the Kaylon. Grayson also explains that Dr Finn joined the Orville because Mercer was Captain. She and her sons had a relationship with the Kaylon emissary Isaac. That relationship was what convinced Issac to turn against his own people. She explains that the Kaylon lost the battle in the alternate timeline. Mercer is initially skeptical but Keyali backs Grayson up. She says that she served aboard the Orville with Captain Griffith and thought that Isaac was their friend. LaMarr explains that Kelly tracked them all down and says that the things she knew they would have knew if they had been there. Grayson tells Mercer that they have to restore the timeline. Finn adds that the only way is for her to go back and fix that memory wipe. While Ed believes, Malloy is skeptical until Dr Finn explains that the memory wipe didn't work because Kelly's brain is deficient in a certain brain protein. She says that it is something that could be missed. With the proper injection, Finn reassures him that it is something that could be easily fixed, restoring the proper timeline. Since every Union medbay has been destroyed, LaMarr proposes getting in touch with the Resistance, which has been reduced to a handful of cells. LaMarr says that he can put them in touch with one of these cells, who can get hold of the protein. Grayson says that the Resistance base is remote and that they need to avoid a lot of Kaylon. Malloy offers his services as pilot. In private, Grayson apologizes to Mercer and says that her younger self saw that they have been through a lot of heartbreak and that she thought she was doing the right thing then. Mercer says that was a hell of a decision to make and that he would consider how it would affect other people. Mercer says that time travel has dangerous implications for history. Mercer says he is still hurt by the breakup. Grayson says good to see you again. Act 3 Malloy takes the scavenger vessel through a big asteroid field, which LaMarr reveals used to be a planet. He explains that there is a nearby black hole slowly sucking them in. Grayson sights the planet with the Resistance base ahead. She departs with Grayson and Mercer, leaving Keyali to look after her sons Ty and Marcus. Mercer, Grayson, Finn, and LaMarr travel down the planet in their shuttle. They land in a forest clearing and head to the Resistance base. LaMarr leads them to a wheel-shaped building. He knocks on the door and is greeted by Yaphit, who recognizes him as an Orville crew member. Yaphit leads them to Lieutenant Alara Kitan, who is pleased that her friend LaMarr survived an engagement with the Kaylon. Mercer learns that Kitan used to be Chief of Security on the Orville. LaMarr and Kitan are close friends and Kitan assures him that she has gotten their package. LaMarr asks how she is doing. Kitan says she is adjusting to the change in gravity. As she retrieves the protein, Kitan says that the Kaylon have started capturing prisoners for gathering intelligence. Kitan asks about the purpose of the protein but is interrupted by one of her subordinates who warns that the Kaylon have found them. Kitan and the Resistance buy Mercer and his companions enough time to escape through the south entrance and return to their shuttle. The Resistance battle a phalanx of advancing Kaylon but are overwhelmed by their superior numbers. However, the Resistance manage to destroy their base before the Kaylon can capture it. Meanwhile, the scavenger vessel is attacked by Kaylon Spheres in space. Mercer and his companions return to their shuttle but encounter a Kaylon who orders them to surrender. Mercer and Grayson shoot the robot, disabling it. Grayson arranges with Keyali to meet them halfway. Under Malloy's instructions, Ty hits the tractor beam button at his signal, drawing the shuttle into the scavenger vessel's hangar. The scavenger ship is unable to flee into quantum since their quantum drive is offline. They flee into the asteroid field with the Kaylon Spheres on their tail. Unable to outrun them, LaMarr convinces Malloy to hide the scavenger vessel inside the gravity well of the black hole. Due to time dilation, time inside the black hole moves more slowly than time outside. They hide for the equivalent of two full days inside the black hole. Act 4 With the quantum drive back online, Grayson tells the crew to set a course for Earth. Mercer thinks that Earth was destroyed but Grayson explains that in order to restore the timeline they need to access Isaac’s files on the Aronov device, which was aboard the Orville. LaMarr adds that the Orville survived a battle with the Kaylon with Grayson finished that the ship crashed intact at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. While traveling to Earth, John LaMarr examines part of the fallen Kaylon unit's memory core. Grayson visits Mercer in his quarters. Mercer has invited Grayson for a second date in the new alternate timeline and serves her spaghetti bolognese. He tells her that he had been the captain of the Epsilon outpost for the past seven years. Mercer adds that he has not yet reached his goal of commanding a ship but was about to before the outbreak of the Kaylon War. Mercer questions Grayson about their relationship in the alternate timeline. He asks if they hated each other but Grayson reassures him that she loved him and regretted hurting him but that Mercer also regretted breaking up with her. The two agree that had Grayson not broken up her relationship with Mercer following the time travel incident, the Kaylon War would not have happened. While LaMarr finds that most of the Kaylon unit's tactical stuff is protected by quantum encryption codes, he discovers that all Kaylon are connected to each other by a central computer system. He explains that this is how they communicate. Malloy informs them they are approaching Earth. At the bridge, the crew and passengers find a barren Earth and that the moon has been broken up into several asteroids. Act 5 Malloy detects that the Orville is at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which is seven miles deep. LaMarr comes up with the plan to divert enough power to the shuttle's deflectors so they can reach the Orville. The team descend into the depths of the Mariana Trench. Dr Finn realizes that the Kaylon exterminated all life including fish. The shuttle withstands the ocean pressure long enough for them to reach the submerged Orville, which is still intact. LaMarr finds that the Orville's systems are still operational. They manage to dock the shuttle inside the Orville's hangar after depressurizing it. Inside the ship, Keyali picks up one life sign five decks above them. Inside the bridge, the team encounter Lieutenant Commander Bortus, who strikes Mercer. Bortus is delighted to see Mercer and Malloy. He reveals that the captain and first officer perished so he remained aboard the Orville to oversee the evacuation. Bortus says he was unable to prevent the crash and has been surviving on minimal life support and rations for the past nine months. Bortus says that his mate Klyden and son Topa escaped and has plans to meet them on Moclus. Keyali reveals that Moclus was destroyed by the Kaylon. Grayson tells Bortus about their plan. LaMarr starts to reboot the Orville's engines. Mercer thinks that he is not worthy to command the Orville since he has not served as a Captain. Grayson reassures him he has and sits beside him. Bortus says that there are no signs of the enemy in their vicinity. LaMarr says they have enough power to ascend from the ocean. Mercer gets Malloy to manoeuvre the thrusters, lifting the ship out of the ocean floor. As the Orville ascends through the Mariana Trench, LaMarr prepares the engines for their ascent into space. The Orville rises through Earth's atmosphere and switches to sublight engines. Act 6 While traveling through space, LaMarr reveals that Isaac never finished the Aronov calculations. Unable to figure it out himself, he says that they need to get inside Isaac’s brain. Bortus says that Isaac is on Kaylon and that when they returned him his body was disassembled. LaMarr points out his data still exists and says he has an insane idea. In the Orville's bar, Mercer pours himself and Grayson some liquor. He asks if John can do it. Grayson says he will notify them. She asks Mercer if she is a terrible person. She admits her feelings for Mercer. They talk about living on a deserted family and starting up a family. They talk about farming and learning how to cook. The two share a passionate kiss with a Mercer joking that Gordon has to live with them. LaMarr tells the crew that he found a connection point into the Kaylon computer network he explains that he can piggyback the scan once he activates the Kaylon in the lab. When Malloy asks about the bad news, he says that he has to find Isaac in the web because every Kaylon has the equivalent of a neuron identification code. He says they can download Isaac's consciousness into the Kaylon body they have and fill in the missing pieces form his calculations to send Dr Finn back in time. When Mercer asks about the bad news, LaMarr says that they will have to drain all power from the quantum drive to fuel the Aronov device. He adds that they have to depart swiftly because the Kaylon will be able to detect their coordinates through the network. Grayson realizes they have to work fast. LaMarr manages to hack into the Kaylon computer network and download Isaac's consciousness. Isaac asks LaMarr what he is doing and taunts him that his scheme will fail. LaMarr ignores Isaac’s threats and says he will help them out. Bortus reports four Kaylon vessels approaching. LaMarr manages to download Isaac's calculations concerning the Aronov device. LaMarr goes into engineering and tasks Grayson and Mercer with monitoring the quantum levels. Dr Finn gives her sons an emotional farewell and hugs them. She then lies on the bed below the Aronov device. LaMarr enters the engineering deck and powers up the quantum drive to its limits. Dr Finn looks at her sons as the Aronov device powers up while Mercer makes a marriage proposal to Grayson. The Aronov device comes to life but it causes the Orville's quantum drive to overload, destroying the vessel and all hands aboard except Dr Finn. Act 7 In the past, a younger Grayson awakes. After switching off the alarm on her smartphone, she orders coffee from the synthesizer. She is sucked seven years into the future, causing the coffee mug to crash on the floor. Grayson soon returns to the past and finds herself lying on the floor. She looks around before staring out the window. Just then, Dr Finn arrives from the future and tells her that the memory wipe didn’t work. She tells Grayson to trust her and tells her that she is going to go back to sleep. She injects the protein into Grayson's neck before performing the memory wipe for the second time. Moments later, both Dr Finn and the memory wipe device vanish, erased from existence. Later, Grayson is awoken by a beeping sound on her phone. Mercer invites her out for a second date, which Grayson accepts; restoring the timeline. Production On May 23, 2018, visual effects supervisor Brandon Fayette said in an interview with the Planetary Union Network that he was working on a particularly stunning ship for Season 2 (Kelly's scavenger ship), and called it "the Season 2 ship.""The Orville Fan Podcast w/ The Visual Effects Team". Planetary Union Network. May 23, 2018. In December, actor Scott Grimes (Gordon) said this episode would be "reminiscent of time-travel that will blow your mind ... where maybe everyone hasn't met everyone yet.""#253: Scott Grimes from The Orville and American Dad". Comic Book Central. Dec. 23, 2018. He later specified that, after reading the script, the cast reacted by asking, "How are we gonna pull this off, and how are we gonna afford it?"Radish, Christina. "Scott Grimes on ‘The Orville’ Season 2’s Bigger Scope and Working with Seth MacFarlane". Collider. Jan. 10, 2019. And the crew has to find a way to make the vision work. Second-unit filming continued well into 2019 under the direction of Jon Cassar. The final day of shooting was February 26, 2019.@TomCostantino. "MORE-VILLE stuff from my phone. Future throwback #BTS. The last set up of Sesaon 2. @SethMacFarlane @TheOrville #TheOrville @planetary_union @joncassar". Twitter. March 6, 2019. The finale was locked on March 2, 2019.@ChillyKillary. "FINALE LOCKED YOU GUYS!!!! ��". Twitter. March 2, 2019. One week before airing, actor Scott Grimes (Gordon) said that Seth MacFarlane was still "putting the finishing touches" on the episode.@ScottGrimes. "Less than a week away and we are still putting finishing touches on the season finale of @TheOrville !! By “we” I mean @SethMacFarlane still at it polishing it up for y’all . #theorville". Twitter. April 19, 2019. The title was announced on February 6, 2019.The Orville. Fox Sweden. Last accessed Feb. 9, 2019. Trivia * The scene where Yaphit's mouth protrudes from the door of the rebel's base parallels a scene from the movie Star Wars: Return of the Jedi where the eye of a gatekeeper droid at Jabba's palace cranes out from a door to inspect C-3PO and R2D2./u/Runner_one. "Anyone else make this connection?". Reddit. April 26, 2019. * The disappearance of the alternate Claire Finn and her memory wipe headset after erasing Kelly's future memories, thus eliminating the cause of the timeline she hails from, is consistent with that of Pria Lavesque in Pria, who disappeared when the Orville destroyed the wormhole connecting their present to her native time in the 29th century. * The vinyl album Escape ''by the band Journey hangs on young Kelly's apartment wall. * The episode opens with Ed and Gordon scavenging the planet Sarin 4 for a Food Synthesizer. The real Sarin is a binary star system in the Hercules constellation and can be seen with the naked eye. ** Sarin's distance from Earth is roughly 75 light years, which means the Orville can travel between star systems in 7.5 hours. Cast Main cast * Seth MacFarlane as Capt. Ed Mercer * Adrianne Palicki as Cmdr. Kelly Grayson * Halston Sage as Lt. Alara Kitan * Peter Macon as Lt. Cmdr. Bortus * J. Lee as Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr * Jessica Szohr as Lt. Talla Keyali * Penny Johnson Jerald as Dr. Claire Finn * Scott Grimes as Lt. Gordon Malloy * Mark Jackson as Isaac Recurring cast * BJ Tanner as Marcus Finn * Kai Wener as Ty Finn * Norm Macdonald as Yaphit Guest cast * Chris Marroy as Rebel Uncredited * Randy Jay Burrell as Rebel References